NBA: 5 candidates to be first-time All-Stars in 2019-20

2. Tobias Harris, Philadelphia 76ers

It is actually a shame that Tobias Harris is even on this list, as he was more than deserving to be an All-Star just last season.

During the first half of last season, Harris was apart of the LA Clippers where he put up 20.9 points per game along with 7.9 rebounds per game. Harris was the Clippers best all-around player, and led them to a better record than most people were expecting.

Although he put together a great first half, he still did not make the All-Star Game, and was one of the biggest snubs left off the roster.

Even though that was the case, he was still impressive enough for the Philadelphia 76ers to make a mid-season blockbuster deal for him.

The Sixers then had four All-Star caliber players on their roster with Harris, Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Jimmy Butler.

However, the recipe of players did not turn out the way the 76ers had hoped, and the team ended up bowing out in the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Harris’ numbers did not falter too much once the trade happened, although it did seem that at at times he struggled to find his way into flow of the offense and make the impact that he normally does.

This can be expected when you move to a new team and have three other guys who are effective with the ball in their hands.

However, one of those players, Jimmy Butler, is no longer apart of the roster as he decided to take his talents to south beach and join the Miami Heat. Although Butler is a very good player, he did at times demand having the ball and really liked to play isolation ball when he had it.

With him now out of the picture, this means more possessions for guys like Harris to be able to do their thing, and can really help the offense move better. Harris can still be effective without the ball in his hands, but having a few more possessions per game certainly won’t hurt his cause.

Tobias has already had some time to play with Embiid and Simmons, so they already have something to build on as a nucleus and improve.

They are poised to be a serious contender in the East, and there is a very realistic scenario in which the Sixers are an extremely dominant regular season team. They could easily be atop the conference and have their big three represented in Chicago for the All-Star Game.

If Harris can impact the team similar to his days with the Clippers, and with moving from the Western to the Eastern Conference, along with being on a dominant team, he should finally earn his first All-Star selection.